Dr Xiang Ren
B.Arch (Dist), MA (Dist), PhD, FHEA
School of Architecture and Landscape
Senior Lecturer in Architecture
+44 114 222 0359
Full contact details
School of Architecture and Landscape
14F 1403
Arts Tower
Western Bank
Sheffield
S10 2TN
- Profile
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My research and teaching lies in the search for the reinvention of the discipline of architecture from within its own traditions and transdisciplinary practices, that is centred on design and humanities, often with a global East-West comparative lens and an architectural-anthropological close-reading.
Before coming to Sheffield, I practised architecture for several Chinese and Australian practices from the late 2000s, starting from competition winnings including the Earthquake Memorial Museum and Soochow Rockwork Museum, then completing several educational and workplace buildings as the project design architect before receiving my research degrees under the late professor Peter Blundell Jones.
In Sheffield, I was appointed as full-time Lecturer in Architecture in 2018 and promoted to Senior Lecturer (Associate Professor) in 2025.
I served as director of MA Architectural Design programme between 2020 and 2022, and School’s architectural humanities research group between 2022 and 2024.
Outside Sheffield, I have served as the international editor for the RIBA's Journal of Architecture and external panel for the Hong Kong Research Grants Council both since 2022, External Examiner for the B.Arch programme of University of Dundee since 2024, and External Examiner for PhD degrees across the UK universities including Architectural Association.
- Research interests
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My fundamental research enquiry is about the driving force of architecture as both a profession and a discipline, on what is and will be the core disciplinary knowledge, considering both the practice-based nature of architecture and design, and the increasing tension between building and disciplinary knowledge.
I aim to construct non-canonical theories and modes of practices related to the foundations of the domain of architecture and its core disciplinary knowledge, through publications and practices. This is primarily based on a close reading and thick interpretation on the substance and process of architecture, its cultural meaning, its social construction, its varied tectonic and ritual forms, in a longer history and across a larger world.
I am particularly interested in understanding form, type, use, structure, plan, composition, material, tectonics, topography, atmosphere from non-canonical architectural histories and contemporary practices, and the relationships of these topics with other intellectual disciplinary settings and professional developments.
I have also maintained a long-time interest in pre-modern architecture, settlements and historical built environment in the contemporary cities, particularly within South and East Asian historical and cultural contexts. Specific themes include architectural anthropology, ancient archetypes, contemporary vernacular architecture, living architectural traditions and heritage, Modernism's other and its organic tradition, the East-West architectural encounter and interaction.
PhD Supervision Interests
By themes:
- Architectural and cultural heritage, particularly vernacular and modernist built heritage, and heritage at risk because of climate change
- Urban conservation and regeneration
- Indigenous architectural knowledge systems
- Architecture and ethnic minority spaces
- Non-canonical architectural history and theory of 20th century
By methods:
- East-West studies in architecture and landscape: a comparative method
- Architectural anthropology, or anthropological architecture
- Asia as method
- Digital scanning and modelling
- Design research and practice-based research
Current PhD Students
- Nurhayatu Nufut Alimin (2026- ), PhD project – Hybrid Heritage of the Architecture and Interiors of Rumah Gadang in Indonesia
- Chen Zhang (2026), PhD project – Utopia or Heteorotopia: Chinese Urban Site Museum (first supervisor Russell Light)
- Omid Ebrahimbaysalami (2022- ), PhD project – Modern Architectural Heritage in Iran (1925-1979) (second supervisor Dr Chengzhi Peng)
- Abhishek Bhutoria (2021- ), PhD project – Domesticities of Himalayan Villages in post-earthquake Nepal (second supervisor Dr Jan Woudstra)
Completed PhD Students
- Chi-jen Li (2025), PhD project – Sun Xiaoxiang: The Life and Career of the First Chinese Landscape Architect (first supervisor Dr Jan Woudstra)
- Yiwen Yan (2025), PhD project – Historic Urban Landscape Heritage, Hangzhou, China (first supervisor Dr Jan Woudstra)
- Xiaolu Wang (2024), PhD project – Reinterpreting Foguang Monarstry, China's Most Celebrated Buddhist Building (co-supervisor Dr Jan Woudstra)
- Nural Mohamad (2024), PhD project – Julius Posener and Malaysian Architectural Education: humanistic values and intellectual legacy (first supervisor Prof. Renata Tyszczuk)
- Yang Yang (2023), PhD project – Hiroba-ka Open Space within Tokyo's Contemporary Architecture (second supervisor Dr Krzysztof Nawratek)
- Publications
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Edited books
Journal articles
- Placemaking through time in Nepal: conceptualising historic urban-rural landscape of Kathmandu. Urban Planning, 10. View this article in WRRO
- The digital preservation of the Padley Mill as both heritage and knowledge. ARSNET, 4(2), 92-109. View this article in WRRO
- Heritage in transition: vernacular architectural patterns in rural Iran. Heritage, 7(7), 3393-3416. View this article in WRRO
- Cultural mobilities and cultural heritage: concepts for an Asia-centric approach. Journal of the British Academy, 12(1/2). View this article in WRRO
- Buddhist pilgrimage at Mount Wutai: architecture, landscape, and religious heritage. Religions, 14(12). View this article in WRRO
- Reimagining local worlds: Wen village conservation and regeneration, Amateur Architecture Studio. Built Heritage, 7. View this article in WRRO
- Building review: The Lyth Building, Nottingham, by Evans Vettori. Architects' Journal. View this article in WRRO
- The drum tower : architecture and collective practice. AA Files, 78, 53-59. View this article in WRRO
- CHINESE ANCESTRAL HALL: SOCIO-SPATIAL TRADITIONS, RITUAL ARCHITECTURE FORM, AND DECAYING CLAN COMMUNITIES. Traditional Dwellings and Settlements Review, XXXIII(I), 33-33.
- Huxi Library, by Tanghua Architect & Associates. The Architect, 397-402.
- Huxi Library by Tanghua Architect & Associates. The Architect, 397-402. View this article in WRRO
- China’s Architecture in a Globalizing World: Between Socialism and the Market, by Jiawen Han. London: Routledge, 2017. xi+196 pp. US$153.75 (cloth), US$49.95 (paper).. The China Journal, 85(January 2021), 200-201.
- Xiang Ren on reading grassroots architecture in Beijing’s conservation area - Hutong Mushroom By Han Li and Qiuye Jin. arq: Architectural Research Quarterly, 24(3), 295-298.
- Towards openness / OPEN ReAction: Li Hu and Huang Wenjing San Francisco, CA: Applied Research & Design, 2017 ISBN: 9781940743226 $35.00, Pb, pp. 287 Li Hu and Huang Wenjing Beijing: China Architecture & Building Press, 2015 ISBN 9787112180646 RMB 128.00, Pb, pp. 245. Journal of Architecture, 25(5), 650-657. View this article in WRRO
- Thin mask, thick mnemonic : the idea of the wall and genius loci in two contemporary buildings. arq: Architectural Research Quarterly, 24(1), 37-48. View this article in WRRO
- An 'other' concinnitas : temporality and renewability in the Yuanlin Zhang Gallery. Scroope Journal(28), 61-73. View this article in WRRO
- Anonymous process and absent architect: Behind the scenes of Chinese rural regeneration. Architecture and Culture, 6(1), 145-154. View this article in WRRO
- Padley Mill: A Question of Interpretation. Heritage Architecture, 3(1), 71-82.
- 深度勘查，图绘转译和设计介入：英国谢菲尔德大学建筑学专业硕士研究型教学解析. 城市建筑, 2017(10)(No.261), 18-23.
- Xiang Ren on an organic connection with China. Architecture and Ritual: How Buildings Shape Society By Peter Blundell Jones London, Bloomsbury, 2016. Architectural Research Quarterly, 21(3), 277-280. View this article in WRRO
- Rural face, urban mask: Architecture of communal form and collective practice in two chinese villages from 2010 to 2015. Architecture and Culture, 5(1), 57-76. View this article in WRRO
- Architecture and Ritual, Peter Blundell Jones. Heritage Architecture, 2(4), 112-113.
- Clan-Community Hall. The RIBA Journal.
- Architecture as Catalysts. Xin Jianzhu: New Architecture.
- Socially engaged architecture in a Chinese rural village: Xihe Village Community Centre, 2014. arq: Architectural Research Quarterly, 20(2), 119-130. View this article in WRRO
- Archi-infrastructure as Urban Patchworks & Generators: The Ongoing London Crossrail (2008-2019) Project. Time+Architecture, 32(2).
- Live, Social-engagement and transformative value -- Research-led teaching in the first year at the Sheffield School of Architecture[任翔, 康健（2015）活性，社会参与性和转变性--英国谢菲尔德大学建筑学院本科一年级研究型教学解析. 世界建筑导报,5期 (总 165)，45-47页]. World Architecture Review(5), 45-47.
- Hybridization, Landform, and Catalyst Buildings -- Interpretation on Two Libraries Designed by Schmidt Hammer Lassen Architects. Architecture Technique & Art, 04.
- The Elementary School at Arnulfpark in Munich by Hess Talhof Kusmierz Architekten. Xin Jianzhu: New Architecture, 152.
- Reflection on Le Corbusier: an interview with Peter Blundll Jones. Xin Jianzhu: New Architecture, 02, 14-16.
- The Absence of Pictorial Characterization and the Presentation of Regional Imagination: Notes on the Design of No. 45 High School in Hefei City. Architecture Technique & Art, 12.
- Imperfect modernism: Niavaran cultural center, Tehran, 1978. Docomomo Journal. View this article in WRRO
- Cosmopolitanism in urban spaces: The case of Kuzguncuk and its hybrid historic environment. Traditional Dwellings and Settlements Review. View this article in WRRO
- Constructing society: contingency and imperfection in modernist civic architecture in the Global South and East. Docomomo Journal. View this article in WRRO
Book chapters
- Introduction In Woudstra J & Ren X (Ed.), Case Studies in Architecture and Landscape: Expanding the Legacy of Peter Blundell Jones (pp. 1-8). Routledge View this article in WRRO
- Architecture as Mnemonic: The Central Post Office, Kaunas, Lithuania In Woudstra J & Ren X (Ed.), Case Studies in Architecture and Landscape: Expanding the Legacy of Peter Blundell Jones (pp. 38-51). Routledge View this article in WRRO
- Conclusions In Woudstra J & Ren X (Ed.), Case Studies in Architecture and Landscape: Expanding the Legacy of Peter Blundell Jones (pp. 211-212). London: Routledge. View this article in WRRO
- The Built Heritage of Peter Blundell Jones: The Architectural Critic’s Own Houses as Built Criticism In Xiangning L & Wang W (Ed.), Architecture as Built Criticism Zurich: Park Books. View this article in WRRO
- Introduction, Case Studies in Architecture and Landscape Expanding the Legacy of Peter Blundell Jones (pp. 1-8).
- A Brief Spatial History of British Kitchen In Zuo J (Ed.), Bishan (pp. 56-62).
- A bare form of resistance: the anthropology and activism of a barefoot-architect’s own house in a Chinese village In Doucet I & Gosseye J (Ed.), Activism at Home: Architects dwelling between politics, aesthetics, and resistance (pp. 377-387). Germany: Jovis Books. View this article in WRRO
- Conclusions, Place Pedagogy and Play Participation Design and Research with Children (pp. 222-229).
- Tailor, Mason, Intellectual, Peasant: An Alternative Architect towards Sustainable Regeneration in Rural China In Zuo J (Ed.), Bi Shan Beijing, China: Chinese National Geography - CITIC Press.
- Introduction, Case Studies in Architecture and Landscape (pp. 1-8). Taylor & Francis
Conference proceedings
- Heterotopias of High-Tech Architectural heritage: three conceptual scaffolding. High-Tech Heritage: (Im)Permanence of Innovation (pp 235-235). ETH Zurich, 14 September 2023 - 14 September 2023. View this article in WRRO
- Making food: exploring the indigenous resilience strategy of the Bima communities in west Nusa Tenggara, Indonesia. Proceedings of International Seminar on Vernacular Settlement 12 (pp 430-447). Bangkok, 9 November 2023 - 9 November 2023. View this article in WRRO
- Translating Vernacular Hybridity into a Living Matrix -- Reflections on the production and occupation of a School Building. Architecture and Education, 3 September 2014 - 5 September 2014.
- Digital Dong: Heritage assessment, reality capturing and 3D modelling. Structural Analysis of Historical Constructions: Heritage conservation in the digital era. Lausanne, Switzerland, 15 September 2025 - 15 September 2025. View this article in WRRO
Exhibitions
- Peter Blundell Jones: Architecture, Landscape and the City. Western Bank Library, University of Sheffield, Sheffield S10 2TN.
- Drawing and Dwelling: British Asian Space and Heritage, as part of "Cultures of Creative Health" exhibition. Huddersfield.
- Drawing Minority Space, in "Research through Drawing" exhibition. École Nationale Supérieure d'Architecture de Lyon, 30 November - 15 December 2023.
- Drawing Minority Space: an axonometric, in the “Givors. Atlas of Non-heroic Urban Forms” exhibition. Archipel, a centre for urban culture located on Place des Terreaux in Lyon city centre, France.
- Drawing and Dwelling: British East Asian space and heritage. Sheffield Winter Garden, 31 October - 7 November 2023.
- Reimagining Home for Refugees and the Homeless. Soft Ground, Sheffield.
- Living with Nature, in the "Sustainable Living and Cultures of Place" exhibition. Queensgate Market, Huddersfield.
- Form of Silence: Tanghua Architects, 12 Built Projects. 24/05/19 - 21/06/19. The Arts Tower, University of Sheffield.
- Whisper of the Rural Vernacular: Drawings, Designs, Buildings. The Bridge Gallery, University of Westminster’s Marylebone Campus, London, 20 February - 15 March 20.
- Provincial Bureau of Construction New Workplace Building Design and Research. Provincial Bureau of Construction, Hefei city, China, 21 October - 21 November 2011.
Digital content
- Decoding Dong.
- China’s ‘barefoot architects’ are transforming left-behind rural villages, August 22, 2019, THE CONVERSATION.
Dictionary or encyclopaedia entries
- Haobo Wei, Consumption. In Encyclopaedia of Vernacular Architecture of the World (2nd ed). London, UK: Bloomsbury.
- Placemaking through time in Nepal: conceptualising historic urban-rural landscape of Kathmandu. Urban Planning, 10. View this article in WRRO
- Grants
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- 2024-26, ‘Climate Heritage at the Edge', TUoS Global Engagements, PI. In collaboration with Prof. Linxue Li from Tongji University, China.
- 2026, ‘Indigneous Dong builders network and evidence-based policymaking’, TUoS Knowledge Exchange Fund, PI.
- 2023-25, 'East-West in Thirty Years’, TUoS, PI.
- 2023-25, 'Decoding Dong in China', Endangered Wooden Architecture Programme Large Grant, PI
- 2022-23, 'Home-coming and Home-making: South-East Asian Diasporas in Europe', British Academy with Alexander von Humboldt Foundation, UK PI, in collaboration with Dr Victoria Sakti from Max Planck Institute for the Study of Religious and Ethnic Diversity, Gottingen, Germany
- 2022-23, 'Asian Cultural Mobilities: Transitions, Encounters, Heritage', British Academy with Alexander von Humboldt Foundation, UK Co-PI, in collaboration with Dr Karen O’Brien-Kop from King's College London and Dr Alessandro Rippa from Rachel Carson Centre for Environment and Society, Ludwig Maximilians Universität, Munich, Germany.
- 2022, 'Mapping Multiple Identities of London Chinatown', TUoS, PI
- 2022, 'Mapping Pandemic Domesticities of Sheffield', TUoS, PI
- 2020-23, Peter Blundell Jones Library, TUoS, PI
- 2019-21, ‘Place and Displacement: Micro-narratives of (un)settlement’, French Embassy in the UK, PI, in collaboration with Dr Jim Njoo from Ecole Nationale Supérieure d'Architecture de Paris-La Villette, France.
- 2019-20, ‘Conservation and Regeneration of Chinese Ancestral Hall in Zhejiang Province’, WUN, PI, in collaboration with Prof. Yong He from Zhejiang University.
- 2018, ‘New Workplace and Education Building Typologies in London, Oxford and Cambridge’, funded from industry, PI
- 2016, ‘Hybrid Building and Hybrid Practitioner’, RIBA President's Medal for Research, Shortlisted
- 2016, ‘Understanding and Transforming Chinese Rural Villages’, GBCET/UCCL, winner
- 2016, ‘Park Hill’, Denis Mason Jones Award, RIBA/WYSA, winner
- 2016, ‘Writing Buildings’, CREAte (University of Kent)/Architectural Review, travel grant winner
- 2016, ‘Habits, Beliefs, and Tacit Knowledge: Everyday Ritual in East Asian Villages’, PGR Forum Funding TUoS, winner
- 2015, ‘Housing System’, Wohnungsfrage Academy, Haus der Kulturen der Welt, Germany, selected participant
- 2015, ‘Sharing Futures’, ESRC/University of Birmingham, selected participant
- 2014, ‘Stereotomics, Tectonics and Material Presence’, RIBA President's Medal for Master's Dissertation, Shortlisted (national 1 of 4 finalist) following School nomination
- Teaching interests
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My teaching focuses on conservation, design and humanities, and is informed by my international interdisciplinary research. My approach is student enquiry-based and decolonial in nature through East-West comparative studies.
- Teaching activities
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I have been the module leader for:
- ARC 204 Humanities 4 – Issues in Contemporary Architecture
- ARC 6874 Conservation and Regeneration: Principles and Approaches
- ARC 6986 Architectural Design Project
- ARC 6988 Thesis Project
I also give lectures to:
- ARC 103 Humanities 1 – Manifestos
- ARC 104 Humanities 2 – Architecture and Society
- ARC6983 Participation in Architecture and Urban Design
- ARC6975 Trajectories in Urban Design Practice
I supervise a large group of dissertation students for:
- ARC 322 Special Studies
- ARC 556 MArch Dissertation
- ARC 6988 MA Thesis Project
- Professional activities and memberships
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My professional standing and international recognition across academic institutions, learned societies, professional associations and design practices are built through my extended international collaboration, interdisciplinary grants, design consultancies and research publications.
Since 2012, I have been frequently invited to deliver keynote addresses, research lectures, guest reviews and exhibition talks at prestigious institutions across the world, including China’s Central Academy of Fine Arts, Ecole Nationale Supérieure d'Architecture de Paris-La Villette, Max Planck Institute of Gottingen Germany, Mendrisio Academy of Architecture, Tongji University and Universitas Indonesia.
And since 2017, I have been an academic referee for major publishers such as Routledge and Bloomsbury, and over 20 international and interdisciplinary academic journals including Architecture and Culture; arq: Architectural Research Quarterly; Built Heritage; Heritage; Home Cultures; Journal of Architecture; Journal of Architectural Education; Journal of Material Culture; Journal of Asian Architecture and Building Engineering etc.
I have been a member of
- Docomomo UK (International working party for Documentation and Conservation of buildings, sites and neighbourhoods of the Modern Movement), 2024 - ;
- Twentieth Century Society (C20), 2023 - ;
- International Association for the Study of Traditional Environments (IASTE), 2020 - ;
- Global Architectural History Teaching Collaborative (GAHTC), MIT, 2019 - ;
- European Architectural History Network (EAHN), 2018 - ;
- Architectural Humanities Research Association (AHRA), 2014 - ;